You Are What You Buy

Someone once said, “You are what you eat”. Is there are corollary in consumer goods that you are what you buy? I found this interesting study on product design by Ruth Mugge of Delft University of Technology while trolling through some posts on Advertising Lab. A summary of past research she references suggests “that consumers become attached to certain products, because they convey a personal and special meaning over and above the product’s utilitarian meaning”. This attachment is driven by four distinct factors:

1. Pleasure (provided by the product)
2. Memories (related to the product)
3. Group affiliation (does ownership of the product connect me to a group?)
4. Self-expression (can I distinguish myself from others with the product?)

What this becomes is an attachment gauge for brands and products. I’ve ordered the list so that it starts with the most basic, functional part of product attachment, which is how much pleasure it brings us. At this level, we buy products that taste good or that take care of a need (think potato chips or toothpaste). The next level is reserved for brands that are associated with positive moments in our past or have something of a personal heritage to them (i.e., the potato chips I got when visiting my grandparents or the toothpaste I’ve used since I was a kid). The last two categories belong to brands or products that move from the personal to the social. The products provide some form of social validation, by either attaching oneself to a group or separating oneself from another. These products could range anywhere from an NFL team jacket to an iMac to a Lexus sedan.

Obviously, brands or products that can move up the list can lever powerful emotional connections in their advertising that more functional brands or products cannot. Would you rather get a Lexus for Christmas or your father’s Oldsmobile?